Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City staff proposes raising several fees including animal-surrender fee; items to return on consent agenda
Summary
Staff presented changes to the city's schedule of fees — including raising owner-surrender fees (proposed from $25 to $200), a $100 dangerous-dog registration, and a standardized 3% convenience fee for electronic payments — and said the changes will be packaged for council consent in a future meeting.
City staff (Rigo) reviewed a multi-page schedule of proposed fee adjustments across departments and told council they plan to bring multiple items as a resolution on a future consent agenda. Highlights included proposed increases to some animal-control fees (including a proposed owner-surrender fee increase from $25 to $200 and a $100 dangerous-dog registration), a standard convenience fee for electronic payments (3% plus a pass-through transaction cost), higher pavilion and Civic Center hourly rental rates, and new or adjusted inspection fees for water and sewer work.
"So y'all are increasing the, owner surrender fee from 25 to 200?" a council member asked; staff confirmed the change and said the increase was intended to deter non-essential surrenders and better cover microchipping and intake costs. Staff clarified that department heads may waive fees in certain cases. Council discussed enforcement and operational impacts; several councilors said they expected the change to reduce owner-surrenders and provide more shelter resources. Staff recommended moving the proposed fee schedule and associated ordinance cleanups to the next consent agenda for formal approval.
Council also discussed Civic Center rental-use patterns and internal department training needs that affect facility availability. Staff noted some fees would be reduced in places and some added to a consolidated schedule to simplify ordinance language.
